When scientists talk about the cryosphere, they mean the places on Earth where water is in its solid form, frozen into ice or snow. Read more ...

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A CLIMATE CHANGE TOUR FOR A K-12 AUDIENCE

This project was presented as a talk at the Geological Society of America 2009 Fall Meeting in Portland, Oregon. The co-authors were L. Ballagh (NSIDC) and V. Otero (CU's School of Education). Visit A Climate Change Tour for a K-12 Audience on the GSA web site. An abridged version of the project is summarized below.

With a focus on snow and ice, this tour explains how snow and ice play critical roles in the changing climate. Scientists publish their results in refereed journals, the media interviews scientists on engaging topics, and citizens learn about climate change through multiple channels. But what do students understand about climate change and what questions do they have? In a classroom setting in Denver, Colorado, middle-school science students connect with National Snow and Ice Data Center scientists through interactive question and answer sessions. Students ask their questions and scientists respond. With down-to-earth examples and terms that are simple to understand, students and scientists share their thoughts and knowledge about climate change. The scientists are videotaped by a CU undergraduate student funded by the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Scholarship Program as a part of her science education research. In this tour, viewers observe data overlays and videos of scientists answering childrens’ questions about climate change.

Figures

Figure 3 from tour: Figure 1 from http://nsidc.org/frozenground/people.html.
The village of Qannaaq, Greenland, in the Arctic, is built on permafrost.
Credit: Andy Mahoney/NSIDC

Figure 4 from tour: Figure 3 from http://nsidc.org/frozenground/people.html.
This damaged building in Dawson City, Canada, shows what can happen when
the warm interior of a building causes the permafrost underneath to thaw.
Credit: Andrew Slater

Figure 5 from tour: Figure 6 from http://nsidc.org/frozenground/how_fg_affects_land.html.
The leaning trees in this Alaskan forest tilt because the ground used
to be permanently frozen, but it thawed. Forests like this are named drunken
forests. Credit: Tingjun Zhang

Figure 6 from tour: Figure 1 from http://nsidc.org/frozenground/whereis_fg.html.
A large portion of the Arctic has permafrost. On this map, darker shades
of purple indicate larger percentages of permanently frozen ground. Lighter
purples, and the terms isolated and sporadic, refer to lower percentages
of frozen ground. Credit: Map by Philippe Rekacewicz, UNEP/GRID-Arendal;
data from International Permafrost Association, 1998. Circumpolar Active-Layer
Permafrost System (CAPS), version 1.0.

Figure 7 from tour: Figure 1 from http://nsidc.org/frozenground/plants.html.
This lake in Alaska formed when the active layer thawed. Lakes like this
one provide water for plants and animals in frozen ground areas. Credit:
Tingjun Zhang

Figure 8 from tour: Figure 3 from http://nsidc.org/frozenground/plants.html.
These tracks in the Tibetan tundra formed when a truck drove over the
ground a few years ago. The gullies can get bigger and deeper over time,
changing the landscape forever. Credit: Tingjun Zhang.

Figure 10 from tour: Photographs by William O. Field on 13 August 1941
(left) and by Bruce F. Molnia on 31 August 2004 (right). Muir Glacier:
From the Glacier Photograph Collection. Boulder, Colorado USA:
National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital
media.